Failing Metro-North Needs High-Tech Sensors

With the recent news of the Federal Railroad Administration issuing an emergency order regulating the speed of Metro-North trains, the last years of my mother's driving career came to mind.

As she grew older, my mother's driving skills became erratic. Mysterious dents and scratches appeared on her car, which she wrote off as the hazards of shopping center parking lots. It must have occurred to her, however, that her driving ability was declining. As a result, she drove well below the speed limit. She was emphatic that she did not drive slowly; she was just a "careful driver." Finally, her driving acumen deteriorated to the extent that I stealthily asked the Motor Vehicle Department to revoke her license.

With Metro-North at 30 years of age, I see similar signs of diminished capacity. While my mother passed away without ever driving a car again, the same fate does not need to befall Metro-North.

As I sit on my delayed train due to another signal issue, I wonder why railroads still use signals. Aren't the signals, invented by William Robinson in the 1870s, glorified traffic lights? As I glance at my seatmate, I see him perusing his iPad mapping application with integrated traffic status. Can this app be customized to assist a train engineer: show distances between trains and use the global positioning system to pinpoint the locations of all trains on the tracks? Would this mapping technology be better and would signals then go away?

On the day after Christmas, Annette White's life may have been spared if the Metro-North train that struck her in Westport was equipped with sensors found on autonomous cars. Cars need to worry about steering and turning, but trains do not. Trains run on tracks, and they move to a different track through switches controlled via the centralized train dispatcher's office. It seems to me that train motion dynamics are less complex than cars. By borrowing nascent autonomous technology from the automobile industry, commuter trains can become enormously safer.

Autonomous automobiles are also known as self-driving cars. While this may sound like some futurist idea, it is not just a pipe dream but is already available. Mercedes-Benz "Stop & Go Pilot" is offered on S-Class models for under $5,000. Other companies including automakers Acura, BMW, GM, Nissan, and Volkswagen have their own autonomous driving technology. It generally consists of onboard radar, ultrasonic sensors and 3D stereoscopic cameras. Adaptive cruise control keeps cars at a pre-defined distance between each other. The system receiving some of the most favorable press is Google Chauffeur. Its robotic car uses a laser radar system that allows a vehicle to generate a detailed 3-D map of its environment. The expected cost of autonomous technology in automobiles is under $10,000 per car.

While it is too soon to eliminate a train engineer, last year's events justify using technology to help trains slow down when unanticipated objects are in its path or track conditions warrant a speed reduction. Is it a stretch to believe that by next year, the autonomous car's sensors and software could be retrofitted to accommodate a train's particular circumstances? Maybe Google, often cited as a leader in autonomous cars, would be interested in having its New York employees ride safely to work and perhaps support the effort by lending its technology.

One of the advantages of living in the tri-state suburbs is the convenience of traveling to the New York City by rail. While most countries design ever-faster trains, Metro-North is going in the opposite direction due to "safety" motives. This path merely perpetuates a slow death by Metro-North and does little to rectify the unforeseen dangers inherent in its rail system.

Speed restrictions disenfranchise passengers who may be forced to look for alternative transportation, introducing more carbon emissions into the environment. On the other hand, embracing technologies and shortening train schedules would decrease commute times and would have an encouraging effect on the economy by enabling distant commuters to hold jobs in the city.

Allen L. Kramer lives in New Canaan and commutes to Stamford on Metro-North.